Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (8-20 May 1864) was a major battle of the American Civil War that occurred when the 110,000-strong Union army of Ulysses S. Grant assaulted the positions of the 63,000-strong Confederate Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee at the crossroads of Spotsylvania, Virginia, where the Confederates entrenched and engaged in a war of attrition. Grant tried to attack the Confederate lines several times, but the Union army suffered incredibly heavy losses. Gouverneur K. Warren and John Sedgwick's forces failed to force Richard H. Anderson from Laurel Hill, but Emory Upton led a successful assault against the Mule Shoe salient. On 12 May, Grant sent Winfield Scott Hancock's 15,000-strong Union corps to launch a new offensive, but the Confederates held them back, especially at the Bloody Angle, where Horatio G. Wright, Warren, and Ambrose Burnside's attacks were bloodily repulsed. On 18 May, Winfield Scott Hancock launched a futile final assault against the Confederate lines, and Grant decided to simply outmaneuver Lee and continue his march on Richmond. 18,399 Union troops and 12,687 Confederate troops were lost, with the Union losing generals John Sedgwick, James C. Rice, and Thomas G. Stevenson, while the Confederates lost Junius Daniel, and Abner Monroe Perrin.